Top Tourism Executives from New Orleans and Indianapolis Wager on Super Bowl

INDIANAPOLIS AND NEW ORLEANS – January 29, 2010 - Building off a food wager by Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (Indy shrimp cocktail and Mardi Gras king cakes and New Orleans music CDs), the top tourism executives from each city are now making a friendly Super Bowl bet.

Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Don Welsh, president of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association, have agreed to wager opposing football jerseys.

If the Indianapolis Colts win, Perry will receive a Peyton Manning jersey. If the New Orleans’ Saints win, Welsh will receive a Drew Brees jersey. The loser will have to wear the opposing team’s jersey to the office when they return from the Super Bowl.

“The Indianapolis Colts making the Super Bowl again has generated invaluable exposure for our City and our rich tourism product. I’m looking forward to sharing this experience with my counterpart in New Orleans,” said Don Welsh.

The New Orleans Saints are going to the Super Bowl for the first time in the team’s four-decade history. Stephen Perry said, “this team symbolizes the energy, spirit and pride of New Orleans, which makes the city a wonderful place to live, work and visit. It will be fun for Don and I to watch Indianapolis Colts quarterback and New Orleans native son Peyton Manningmatch up against the Saints’ Drew Brees.”

Industry leaders, Welsh and Perry have known each other for nearly a decade.

Tourism is the most important industry in New Orleans, employing nearly 70,000 people and creating billions of dollars in annual economic impact. For information on the New Orleans Saints historic season and its impact on the tourism industry, please visit www.neworleanscvb.com/superbowlsaints.